Eagles face toughest test of the season at Govs Beach Challenge
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Looking to build off their four match win streak, the Carson-Newman beach volleyball team heads to Clarksville, Tenn. for the Govs Beach Challenge at Austin Peay.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Looking to build off their four match win streak, the Carson-Newman beach volleyball team heads to Clarksville, Tenn. for the Govs Beach Challenge at Austin Peay.
The two-day tournament features a grueling, three-match first day on Mar. 11, with the Eagles facing host Austin Peay at 9:00 AM, Chattanooga at noon, and Jacksonville State at 3:00 PM. Carson-Newman will close out the tournament against UT Martin on Saturday, Mar. 11 at 2:00 PM. The Eagles are the only Division-II team at the tournament.
The sand Eagles are 7-2 after completing a perfect 4-0 weekend in North Carolina. Carson-Newman first knocked off Division-III powerhouse Stevenson 3-2 before sweeping St. Andrews 5-0 on Friday, Mar. 4 before picking up a pair of 4-1 wins over Catawba on Saturday, Mar. 5.
The number five pair of Taylor Keeran and Lindsey Geurin went undefeated last weekend, including three straight two-set sweeps. With a forfeit win against Catawba, Geurin passed Abby Struewing with the most individual wins in program history. The senior out of Clearwater Beach, Fla. has a career record of 23-11 and is now 8-1 this season with Keeran as her partner.
Morgan Siwiec completed a perfect weekend last week, going 3-0 with Julia Wheeler as her partner against Catawba and Stevenson, and picking up a win with Alanis Mendez as her partner against St. Andrews. The winning streak breaks a three-match losing streak for the Toms River, N.J. native.
Austin Peay enters the the weekend at 0-4, having lost four matches at the FAU Beach Bash in Boca Raton, Fla. last weekend. The Govs were swept in three of the four matches, their lone win coming from Demi McInnis and Tegan Seyring against Division-II Palm Beach Atlantic.
This will be the fifth meeting between the Govs and the Eagles, with Austin Peay winning all four previous matchups. Morgan Ballard and Allie Foster are the only Eagles to ever win a match against Austin Peay, coming in a 4-1 loss in Franklin, Tenn. The Govs have swept the Eagles in three straight matches.
Chattanooga and Carson-Newman are meeting for the second time this season. The Mocs rolled over the Eagles the first time they met in Greeneville, Tenn. at the Tusculum Pioneer Tournament on Feb. 26 with a 4-1 victory. Geurin and Keeran were the only members of the convocation to record a win.
The Mocs hold a 2-1 series edge over C-N and enter the weekend with a 4-1 record. Gylian Finch and Paige Gallentine were named the Ohio Valley Conference pair of the week after a 1-1 week at the No. 2 pair against North Alabama.
Jacksonville State will play their first matches of the season this weekend. The Gamecocks went 5-9 last season, but upset OVC regular season champion Morehead State before falling in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Championship to UT Martin.
The Eagles and Gamecocks only meeting was in 2018, also in Clarksville. JSU went on to sweep Carson-Newman 5-0 at the OVC Beach Challenge event.
UT Martin will also make their 2022 season debut this weekend in Clarksville. UT Martin returns 10 players from 2021, which was the best season in school history. The Skyhawks went 10-7 and advanced to the first-ever OVC Championship finals – piecing together more wins than the program's first three years combined.
The two squads previously met in 2017, the Skyhawks' debut beach volleyball season. Carson-Newman swept UT Martin 5-0 in Franklin, Tenn. The Eagles won all five matches in straight sets, the closest one being a 21-14 victory at number three by Marnie Streeter and Eileen Anderson.
Fans can stay locked in on the Carson-Newman beach volleyball team with updates on twitter at @cn_eagles or at cneagles.com.
